Relative safety
by Inky8Fingers
Summary: Ummm, very sad... S/D friendship. Oneshot.


Discliamer - I don't own it.

...Well, i own the story, but not the characters...

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Sam could feel the warm, wet tears rolling down her cheeks now, and had given up all hope of making them stop

Sam could feel the warm, wet tears rolling down her cheeks now, and had given up all hope of making them stop. A quiet, choked sob managed to escape her swollen lips, and she felt a comforting arm settle around her shoulders. Her red and puffy eyes were sensitive to the burning sunlight that shone through the clouds, so when she looked up into Daniel Jackson's sympathetic face, her eyes instinctively lowered to the ground again, to relieve herself from even more pain.

Daniel stood and watched Sam falling apart beside him, trying to hold back her tears but failing. It broke his heart to see her like this, in all the years they had been friends, he had never seen her so upset. But it was understandable. He himself was having difficulty holding down the emotions welling up inside him. He carefully draped his arm around her shoulders, frowning as her bones dug deep into his side. She must not have eaten in a while. Gently, and with as little pressure as possible, he pulled her closer, thinking that maybe they would benefit from each other's solid warmth. He felt her slowly respond to his action and lean into him. Taking a good look at her, Daniel noticed how her pale skin seemed drawn over her bones, and her tired puffy eyes were a disturbing contrast to her skin.

"It'll be ok." He whispered into her ear, leaning in so that he didn't disturb the other people around him.

Sam glanced down at the two open graves in front of her and closed her eyes, the smallest of self-comforting smiles playing across her face.

"No. It will never be ok." She replied, her voice tight and cold. She probably would have tried to pull away from him, but she hadn't got enough energy left.

Sam opened her eyes again, this time letting the sun burn into the back of her skull, the pain taking her mind momentarily away from the scene in front of her. Sighing, she looked back down at the graves, and the plain wooden coffins being lowered slowly and reverently into the soil. He wouldn't want her to hurt herself, just to make him go away, that was the cowards escape. She pulled a pair of sunglasses out of the pocket of her crisp Dress Blue jacket, and slipped them over her aching eyes.

Daniel was surprised to find his own cheeks had become damp, and used his free hand to limply swipe the unwanted tears away. Everything anyone did was slow, like they were trying to move through treacle. Because the death of loved ones leaves you with so little energy, you can hardly find the strength to breath.

Neither Sam nor Daniel had been able to hear the speech that General Hammond given in honour of the two fallen soldiers, but their minds managed to filter out the important words, just two.

Jack ...

…Teal'c…

Sam managed to raise her hand in a wobbly salute with everyone else, but her hand fell heavily back to her side, like a puppet whose stings had been cut.

Daniel stood and took it all in, not feeling obliged to join in with the salute of a military that had been the death of his friends.

His family.

He squeezed Sam's shoulder, more for his own comfort than for hers, and felt her shivering from suppressed emotion.

When it was all over and the other members of the SGC had retreated either to their vehicles or into little groups around the cemetery, Sam slipped from Daniel's grasp and stumbled over to the still open graves of her friends.

And cried.

With none of the military there to cast disapproving glances her way, she cried for all the times she had shared with those brave men, for a love she had not had the chance to explore.

Daniel watched, helpless as the woman he saw as closer than family die along with her memories.

Helpless, but to watch her heart shatter and lie dormant in the graves before her.

He wracked his brains for anyway to help and found nothing. He gave Sam one last glance and went to stand and pretend to listen to what some soldier was saying about how dying for their country was the greatest honour of all. But to Daniel, it was just a waste of a perfectly good life.

Sam pulled a slightly squashed rose out of her pocket and threw it into the air in front of her, watching it float lifelessly into the ground before her.

"Goodbye" with that final whispered word, she turned and fled to the relative safety of her car, that would take her back to her office, within the SGC, away from the rest of the world.

Please review!

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